


Dance With Me

by dreamsdark



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Dancing, M/M, So it's basically canon right, there's alcohol and rejection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 19:18:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11561643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamsdark/pseuds/dreamsdark
Summary: Gatrie tries to convince Shinon to dance with him.





	Dance With Me

Shinon had enough of nobility to last him two lifetimes. All their pretty words just hid an ugliness even deeper within, and their backwards customs were just another way of alienating the common folk further. 

Said customs insisted the Greil Mercenaries had to attend the ceremony after the new queen’s coronation. Well, mostly Ike, hero of Crimea that he was, but the invitation was extended to all of them out of a courtesy Shinon couldn’t care less for. He would’ve ditched, but ended up lured in through a combination of Rolf’s puppy eyes and the promise of free alcohol.

A promise which ended up true, and that Shinon was taking full advantage of. He was well aware of the stares he was getting by just drinking in a corner during a royal ball, but did he give a damn? Hell no. He’d already dressed up all pretty; that was the most the bluebloods were getting out of him.

“Shinon! There you are.”

“Gatrie,” he acknowledged, the empty wineglass he held almost slipping out of his hand. Did these really need to be so delicate?

Gatrie was also dressed up, in a nice blue vest with golden buttons. Blue suited him, as it always did—not that Shinon ever said this out loud, of course. “I have an important request.”

“Now?” While they were both stuck here?

“Yes…it’s…”

“Get on with it!”

Without warning, Gatrie dropped to one knee, taking Shinon’s free hand and kissing his knuckles. “May I—”

“What the _hell_.” He jerked his hand back like he’d been struck, accidentally slapping Gatrie across the mouth before he could finish.

Gatrie blinked, wiping his lips with the back of his hand. “I was going to say: may I have this dance?”

“No,” he refused flatly before the meaning of his words even sank in. “Wait—why? Every girl reject you already?”

“Most of them, yeah,” he answered shamelessly.

“I would’ve poured this on you if it wasn’t empty.” Shinon set the glass down instead, because he was still above breaking a fancy wineglass over Gatrie’s head.

“I know. That’s why I waited until you finished. So will you dance with me?” He grinned, completely genuine and unguarded. It was a face that made Shinon want to both punch and—scratch that. Just punch him, actually.

Since  _societal convention_  dictated he couldn’t, he decided to play along instead, leaning against the wall with a hand on his hip. “I don’t know. I’ve heard I’m your last choice—I’m a bit hurt.”

“Nonsense, darling!” Shinon instantly regretted everything. “You’re the only one I have eyes for.”

Shinon snorted, breaking character. Gatrie seemed disappointed, but really, how long did he expect him to hold it for? “You’re still shit at sweet-talking.”

“How would you go about it, then?”

“Nice try. I don’t give out advice for free.”

“Aw, not even for me?” Gatrie finally stood, dusting off his pant leg. “You haven’t answered my question yet.”

“I have, actually. Answer’s still no, by the way.”

“Really?” How did he already forget? “Then…how can I change your mind?” He smiled in a way probably meant to be charming, but ended up looking kind of dopey instead.

“Can’t.” 

“Not even if I buy you dinner?”

Shinon scoffed. “You’ve tried that already.”

“Then…hmm.” While Gatrie pondered over a sufficient bribe, Shinon strolled over to the dessert table and snatched up a tiny cake. Far too tiny for how delicious it was; he took another and returned to the corner he currently claimed.

Noticing his return, Gatrie started, “What if I—mmph!” His eyes lit up as he tasted the cake Shinon had unceremoniously shoved in his mouth. “Dese a’ good!”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

Swallowing, Gatrie continued from where he left off, but not without first looking longingly at the rest of the desserts set out. “What if I didn’t flirt with anyone else?”

Now  _this_  was interesting. “For how long?”

“A…week?” he gave reluctantly.

“Make that a month.”

“Two weeks. Compromise.”

Shinon didn’t compromise by principle, but he was intrigued this time. “Fine. But if you step on my feet even once, it’s a month.”

“Deal!”

* * *

Shinon didn’t know the first thing about dancing, so he let Gatrie lead. “Now take my hand, and I’ll…”

The appearance of a hand placed firmly on his lower back surprised Shinon into jumping away with a yelp. Gatrie laughed, to break the tension rather than anything malicious. “I, I’ll have to hold you if we’re going to do this.”

“Just warn me first.” 

“Alright, alright. See?” He waved his hand in front of Shinon’s face, then slid it back to its former position, where it fit snugly against the small of his back.

“Isn’t that a bit low…” Shinon muttered under his breath.

“Now follow my lead.” Their dance, if it could even be called that, was terribly slow—as anything to do with nobles and their customs usually was. He had a hunch Gatrie was taking it slower to avoid stepping on him as well.

In his peripheral vision, Shinon caught a glimpse of Soren glaring daggers at everyone attending, stopped from completely exploding only by Ike’s presence next to him. He might have even sympathized with Soren if he wasn’t such a pompous whelp.

“Rival! Do you cower in fear of my unparalleled  _dancing skill?_  As expected of a squinty-eyed craven such as you!” And there was that annoyingly loud Crimean knight yelling, which meant…

“I’d just like to have two working feet tomorrow, thanks!” …Oscar was definitely nearby. Getting closer, in fact, from the sound of his voice—

“Ha!”

“Ow!”

“Whoa!”

“Agh!”

Kieran managed to catch up, tackling Oscar with such a force that sent them both toppling into Gatrie, making him fall right on top of Shinon.

Shinon, who did not appreciate having the weight of three fully grown men crushing him, managed to push them all off through the strength brought on by his anger alone and sent them sprawling across the floor. The other guests gave them a wide berth, and some noble lady fainted at the display—or maybe from her corset cutting off her air.

Kieran was completely unaffected, already blathering on about how Oscar had to accept his offer to dance with him now that he’d apparently bested him. Shinon couldn’t have cared less, intently watching Gatrie as he sat up and rubbed a bruised elbow.

At Shinon’s expression, he went pale. “Oh no.”

“Oh  _yes_.” 

This month was already looking up.

**Author's Note:**

> this is like the least romantic thing  
> it's...anti-romantic  
> are they even together here? I don't know  
> it works either way
> 
> I never write in past tense...I'm not sure why I did now  
> hopefully I didn't mess up and switch tenses somewhere
> 
> my tumblr ([dreamy--dark](http://dreamy--dark.tumblr.com/))  
> please talk to me about shinon--


End file.
